13/05/2025
Heidi Mendoza: The Woman Who Beat the Billion-Peso System
In a political landscape built on name recall, TV ads, dynasties, and billion-peso budgets, Heidi Mendoza did the unthinkable.
She had no political party. No machinery. No showbiz endorsements. No miting de avance. She had no TV or radio ads. Her total social media ad spend? Just 100,000 pesos. Her entire campaign spend? Only 2.5 million pesos.
And yet, she garnered millions of votes.
At one point during the counting, Heidi Mendoza had already reached 8.5 million votes. But a few hours later, her tally was suddenly shown as 6,981,537. It wasn’t just her—many candidates saw similar rollbacks. Whether it was a glitch, a sync delay, or something else, the discrepancy raised eyebrows. But even at the lower figure, the result is already historic.
She ran completely independent, fueled only by truth, courage, and volunteers who believed in her integrity. No trolls. No handlers. No billboards. Just receipts—and a quiet army of citizens determined to amplify them.
Until the final month of the campaign, she was either absent from or buried deep in the lower ranks of pre-election surveys. In April 2025, OCTA estimated her awareness at only 60 percent, with a voter preference of just 2 percent. In the final SWS survey before elections, she was still only at 3 percent, projected to finish between 27th and 36th place.
Meanwhile:
Francis Tolentino had 90 percent or higher awareness and finished 25th with 6.1 million votes, after spending over 1.86 billion pesos.
Willie Revillame had near-universal awareness, spent a massive fortune, finished one place below of Heidi with 6.9 million votes.
Now let’s talk cost per vote:
Heidi Mendoza:
2.5 million pesos divided by 6.9 million votes = 0.36 pesos per vote
Francis Tolentino:
1.867 billion pesos divided by 6.1 million votes = 306 pesos per vote
Camille Villar (top spender at 3.5 billion pesos):
3.516 billion pesos divided by 10.99 million votes = 320 pesos per vote
And take note: these costs for Camille Villar and Francis Tolentino are only as of March 2025. They include only traditional media buys—TV, radio, print, and billboards. They do not cover digital ad spending, social media operations, influencer seeding, troll machinery, ground mobilization, or potential vote-buying schemes. In reality, the total amount spent by these candidates could be several times higher.
Heidi's campaign was nearly 900 times more efficient than those of the top dynasties.
And she did not owe anyone.
But it wasn’t an easy path.
Heidi Mendoza was one of the most vilified candidates of the election cycle. Targeted relentlessly with fake news and black propaganda, she became a lightning rod for disinformation and coordinated attacks. Even economist Winnie Monsod expressed her confusion in an interview when Heidi was polling at just #28 in surveys, asking why such a clean and credible candidate would be getting so much hate. The answer, as the final results have shown, is clear now: she was a threat. And those afraid of her integrity tried to drown her in lies before she could rise.
But rise she did.
Even the media is calling it the biggest overperformance of the 2025 senatorial elections. She wasn’t supposed to place anywhere near the Top 30. She wasn’t even included in most strategic calculations.
But this wasn’t a fluke. This was a movement.
She didn’t rely on noise. She relied on truth. Her name spread in classrooms, comment sections, barangay halls, and family group chats. She inspired people to campaign for her for free—not out of loyalty, but out of hope.
This isn’t just overperformance. This is a statistical miracle. This is a political rebellion.
In an environment where many candidates spent hundreds of millions to billions just to be remembered, Heidi was carried by the memory of her integrity. She’s the woman who once stood before generals, vice presidents, senators, and plunderers—and told the truth, even when it cost her.
She didn’t just run. She resisted.
She didn’t just campaign. She convicted.
She didn’t just win hearts. She rewrote the math.
So the question now isn’t how did she do it.
It’s what happens when the rest of the country catches up.
Because if she could reach 6.9 million to 8.5 million people with only 2.5 million pesos, imagine what we can do together in 2028.
And this time, we’re not coming in late.
We’re coming for a seat.
